A satellite is to be despun by means of a tangential-release yo-yo mechanism consisting of two masses, 3 kg each, wound around the midplane of the satellite. The satellite is spinning around its axis of symmetry with an angular velocity us ¼5 rad/s. The radius of the cylindrical satellite is 1.5 m and the moment of inertia about the spin axis is C ¼ 300 kg$m2.
(a) Find the cord length and the deployment time to reduce the spin rate to 1 rad/s.
(b) Find the cord length and time to reduce the spin rate to zero.